


Quiet Minds

by Wanderbird



Series: Fragments [1]
Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Gen, Link meets Zelda, Mute Link (Legend of Zelda), amnesiac link, shortly pre-botw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-23
Updated: 2019-09-23
Packaged: 2020-10-27 00:28:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20751293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wanderbird/pseuds/Wanderbird
Summary: Mipha found a hylian pre-teen alone on the riverbank.Where did he come from? Who did he belong to? Why was he here?Unfortunately, said child could not answer any of these questions. So after the first few months of trying to heal his mind and *fix this*, she brought him to the Capitol. Where the young Link, bereft of memory, was presented to the King. And eventually his daughter.





	Quiet Minds

“Zelda,” spoke the king of Hyrule, and his words were quiet and weary. “This is to be your new bodyguard. His name is Link.”  
The princess blinked. “But father, what about Impa?”  
“Impa has other tasks.” None that couldn’t be postponed. “Visit her if you wish, but she has approved this appointment as well.” Well, approved was a bit of a strong word. The Sheikah woman had made a brief test of Link’s abilities, before giving a surprised grunt. After all, when was the last time _anyone_ had matched her three for three in the training ring, much less a child of—twelve? Thirteen? But Zelda had grown irritable, recently, about needing a bodyguard wherever she went. Perhaps someone closer to her own age would be a bit less grating to deal with, he figured. Besides, King Rhoam had his suspicions as to the boy’s identity, much as he dreaded the truth of them. It had been, what? Ten thousand years since Demise and Hylia had last played their tug-of-war in Hyrule? And then Urbosa had mentioned some kerfuffle in the Gerudo tribes, something about a pair of women fleeing with their baby a few decades back, and he didn’t know how Gerudo families worked given that they were all women, but what if they’d had some clue that the other Gerudo wouldn’t want their child around?  
Unlikely, of course, he’d dismissed the scenario from his mind. But his Zelda had always seemed a little wiser than a child should, and then Mipha had to show up, trailing that amnesiac Hylian foundling of King Dorephan’s behind him, and… Maybe he was paranoid. Probably, in fact. Hopefully.

But if there was more to this niggling dread than paranoia and superstition, then Zelda’s fascination with those ancient Sheikah relics would be the kingdom’s best stroke of luck in a hundred years, and there could be no better strategy to ensure her survival than by putting the boy by her side.

“Father!” the voice intruded in his consciousness. Zelda’s arms were folded. How long had he been… lost in thought? “Is there something _wrong _with him?” she demanded, impetuous. For all her wisdom, Rhoam found himself smiling, she was still young, only fourteen or so herself! But wait—wrong with Link?  
“What do you mean?” King Rhoam’s eyes fell on the boy. How had he managed to—the boy had sprawled across the ground like so many dice, eyes wide and shining, mouth gaping. His stare flicked from one spot to another, chasing unseen images across the wall. “Wrong with—” breath whistled from the king’s pursed lips. “Yeesss,” he managed. “I’m told he’s been having a few, ah, mental issues of late. Nothing dangerous.” To you. I hope. Oh, well, he could always have Impa keep an eye on them as well, if from a suitably subtle distance.  
And then the boy froze. Blue eyes focused at last on the princess, a beam of azure light. He whispered. “Z-Zelda?”

King Rhoam stared. “Did you know,” the King barely felt the words leave his mouth, “that is the first time anyone’s heard him speak?”

Zelda’s gaze bored into the boy. For a moment there, she looked otherworldly, alien and cold, not his teenaged daughter at all—and then the moment passed. A wry smile. “There’s definitely something wrong with him.” But then she sighed, and knelt, and offered Link a hand, grasping his elbow firmly long enough to pull him up. “Hello, Link. I sincerely hope we manage to get along.”

~~~

Mipha waited anxiously outside in the corridor.  
When Rhoam emerged, she managed a bow and a wobbly, shark-toothed smile. “Your Majesty! Did it go alright between them? Is Link…”  
“I believe Link will be alright, my dear.” It was hard to remember that Mipha was already in her fifties, despite her size. “And Zelda shall get used to him, I think.”  
“Did he remember… anything?” Her voice was hesitant. The Zora did not exactly share Rhoam’s suspicions, nor did they care so much, having a presence outside of Hyrule as well. But they were aware of them.  
“I am not so sure,” Rhoam replied. “He seemed rather shocked—perhaps he only recalled that Zelda was the princess, and did not expect to be given such responsibility. But even if he is not the hero of legend, and only an ordinary amnesiac, he will make a good bodyguard.”  
Princess Mipha nodded. “He is strong, for a Hylian.”  
A snort. “Strong, yes, but that has nothing to do with it.” A thought seized him. “Did you train him? You and your fellow Zora?”  
“So you have fought with him, or your attendants have.” The tail on the Zora’s head twitched. “No. We trained _with_ him, but the skills, those he already possessed. I thought it rather spectacular, for all that a spear is not his preferred weapon, especially in something as short-lived as he.” Mipha bit her lip. “He is as much a mystery to us as he is to you.”  
“Hmm,” King Rhoam hummed. “Perhaps Zelda will take him on one of her archaeology expeditions,” he murmured. “That, mayhap, could give us some proper answers.” He heaved in a breath. “I will let you know if he speaks again, or if ought else should come of this. For now? Let us give them time, Princess, and let the world progress as it will.” The King offered up his arm as he began to stroll down the hall, letting that clammy hand clasp it in its damp steel grip. “Now. Do you intend to stay for dinner, or shall I walk you to the riverbank?”  
“Dinner would be much appreciated,” came the honest answer in Mipha’s delicate voice. He could very nearly _see _the imprint of those needle-teeth already. “though only if you don’t mind, of course. I would like to keep an eye on my patient while I can.”  
“Of course,” Was that curiosity or something else? “My castle is forever open to you, my aquatic cousin.” Better make sure somebody warns the cook, if he would have an extra Zora over. The sheer amount of fish they ate, it boggled the mind! King Rhoam stifled the chuckle in his throat. “And you can regale all the dignitaries with the tale of how you found the poor thing wandering the river without a thought in his head, and kept him for safekeeping.”  
“Precisely!” Mipha laughed. “Perhaps some pompous diplomat’s home will be missing a child, and claim him back!”  
“Oh yes, that would be the day! A diplomat, admit to actually _wanting _something not important to their actual goals!”

They could not ever be friends, precisely, mired in all the politics of life. But what Rhoam had with King Dorephan’s youngest daughter was certainly close.

~~~

Meanwhile in another room, kneeling at his Ruler’s feet, the Hero of Courage knew only his task; engraved in blood, and bone, and holy stones:  
_Protect her._

_For we are the end of all time._

**Author's Note:**

> Idk, this always seemed like a wonderfully angsty way to think about Link, especially with how he and Zelda interact in BotW. (The rest of this just sort of... slid into being while I wasn't looking.) 
> 
> Just some kid, who was just walking along picking mushrooms or something when the horribly traumatizing memories of his past lives started to resurface. And then he didn't know where he was, or where he was supposed to go back to. Wouldn't recognize his parents if they looked him in the face. So he started walking, and got picked up by some kindly Zora, and when they couldn't figure out where he came from, they brought him to the other Hylians.  
Where he met Zelda.  
And all his old lives start to come back, one uncomfortably intense little piece at a time.
> 
> Maybe I'll write more of this someday? In a more filled out format? Lmk what you think. <3


End file.
